West Virginia Democrat. [volume] (Charles Town, W. Va.) 1885-1890, 1887-05-13
SALT AND ITS SAVIOR.
Why the United States Have to Import
So Much OF This Commodity.

New York Commercial Advertiser.
"Not many people know that in
spite of the wonderful salt wells and
salt deposits in this country we an
nually import immense quantities OF
salt" said H. B. Miller, commits
sion merchant, the other day. "Our
importations are constantly increas-
ing, too, although the output of our
own salt factories keeps pace with
the growth of the population, and
there is considerable duty on all
kinds of salt. The reason is, that
certain fine grades and special kinds
of salt are not made in this country.
You can get about as good dairy or
table salt from the New York or
Michigan wells as from anywhere in
the world. but you can't get the
coarse salt used in packing meats
for export, the quickly dissolying
Turks Island salt used in the ice
cream factories, nor the curious
Spanish salts that the street car
companies sprinkle on their tracks
when they think Henry Bergh isn't
looking. All the domestic salt, ex-
cept that which is mined in Louis
lana, is made by evaporating, by
artificial heat, brine pumped up QUITO
the earth. The very valuable coarse
salt which we import is made by
evaporating sea water in the open
air. 1t is made where people can
afford to wait three or four months
for n few dollars. Where's that?
Well, along the Mediterranean. for
instance. The people there dam up
little bay and wait until the sun
and the winds have carried the water
away. 1t is not very pure salt that
they scrape up off the mud, but it is
indispensable for some purposes.
'The experiment of making solar
salt has been tried in this country,
but without much success. The
quality Of the sea-water varies 4
good deal. 1t will deposit one kind
of salt on one island and another
perceptibly different, even to the eye,
on another island perhaps not more
than forty miles away. We do an
immense trade with the West Indies
in salt. There are dozen places
that furnish altogether different
kinds of salt, and each has its pecu
liar use. One very fine and easily
soluble variety is used in the favor
ing of chewing tobacco. Not many
chewers know that, but they would
find out very quickly that something
was lacking if the salt should be
omitted Some physicians have
thought that the presence of the salt
makes the tobacco very injurious.
There isn't so much English
dairy salt imported as there used to
be. At one time manufacturers oil
fine butter thought that their pro-
ducts would be utterly ruined if any
thing but fine English salt touched
them. 1t is not so now. For one
reason, American salt makers have
learned the trick of making good
dairy salt, and for another, Ameri-
can salt has got to be wonderfully
cheap. Out in the Saginaw region
of Michigan the salt wells are right
by the side of the big lumber mills.
All that is necessary is to attach to
the mill machinery pump to draw
up the brine and feed the sawdust
and timber waste, which would 9TH
erwise be thrown away, to the evap-
Grating kettles, In that way salt
can be made for about twelve cents
bushel. Gentlemen who own salt
wells and lumber mills in Michigan
| are usually rich enough to buy out
any ordinary State"